My family's WW2 Experience

My grandfather, Ben Molinaro served in the US Army from Jan. 1942 through Dec. 1945 as a paratrooper and radio operator in the 101st Airborne.  Initially, he was part of the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR), 1st Battalion, Company C, until it was transferred during the war to be the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR), 3rd Battalion, Company C.  He trained at Camp Claiborne in Louisiana, at the Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base in Maxton, North Carolina, and at Brock Barracks in Reading, England.

His unit fought battles in Normandy (France), in Holland, at Bastogne (Belgium), and in Germany.  They landed by sea (with the 4th Infantry Division, 8th Infantry Regiment) at Utah Beach (Uncle Red sector and Victor sector) during the Normandy invasion; they glider-landed into Holland for Operation Market Garden; and they moved by truck to defend Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.  He also fought through Germany in the Rhineland and Berchtesgarden campaigns and his unit occupied Hitler's Eagle's Nest headquarters near the end of the war.

In France, he fought at Sainte-Come-du-Mont, at the Douve River, at Carentan, and at Montmartin-en-Graignes.  In Holland, he fought at the cities of Zon and at Erp.  In Belgium, he fought at Bastogne, at Flomizoulle, in the Battle of Champs, at Lutremage, at Bourcy, at Hardigny, at Foy, and at the Bastogne-Houffalize Highway.  In the German Ruhr area, he fought at Nuess and at Berchtesgarden.

As a member of the Glider Infantry Regiment in the 101st Airborne, he earned several medals, including the Bronze Star, the American Campaign medal, the Distinguished Unit Badge, the European Campaign medal with four Bronze Battle Stars, the French Croix de Guerre medal, the Belgian Croix de Guerre medal, and the Orange Lanyard of the Royal Netherlands Army.

He met his future wife in England and they married in June 1945.  Eileen Vaughan Molinaro was born in Pentre, South Wales.  He father was a coal miner in the Rhondda Valley.  Prior to World War II, her family had moved to Reading, England.  During the war, they dealt with rationing, severe food and supply shortages, and constant German Air Force bombing of London and Reading.  She immigrated to the United States in April 1946 to join her husband in Chicago, IL.